Abstract
Orientation: High turnover of information technology (IT) personnel is a major problem facing many global and local organisations. An increasingly important area of turnover research of IT personnel experiencing role stress involves examining their perceptions of supervisor support.Research purpose: This study aimed to examine the effects of role-related stress and supervisor support on job satisfaction, job performance and IT turnover intentions.Motivations for the study: It is important to assess from both a theoretical and a practical perspective the extent to which turnover can be explained by relational factors such as supervisor support.Research design, approach and method: An online voluntary survey yielded a sample of 163 respondents. Six constructs were measured: turnover intention, job performance, job satisfaction, supervisor support, role ambiguity and role conflict. A total of 158 usable responses were subjected to descriptive, correlation and regression analysis. Mediation and moderation effects were assessed using a multiple regression bootstrapping procedure.Main findings: Role ambiguity has a greater impact on job satisfaction than role conflict. Job satisfaction fully mediated the relationship between role stress and turnover intention. Supervisor support mediated the relationship between role stressors and job satisfaction and role stressors and job performance. There was no evidence in favour of a moderating role of supervisor support.Practical and managerial implications: Higher priority should be given to tackling role ambiguity. Supervisor support can increase job satisfaction, improve job performance and ultimately reduce turnover intentions, despite the presence of role stress.Contribution or value-add: Human resource managers and IT managers could use these results to improve job performance and staff retention.
Highlights
Studies globally characterise information technology (IT) personnel as being part of the ‘turnover culture’ (Moore & Burke, 2002)
A number of studies report that role-related demands, insufficient time to keep abreast with changing technologies, lack of resources and lack of support are among the primary sources of stress facing IT personnel (Ghapanchi & Aurum, 2011)
22.8% of the sample consisted of IT professionals younger than 30 years of age
Summary
Studies globally characterise information technology (IT) personnel as being part of the ‘turnover culture’ (Moore & Burke, 2002). These norms of high turnover of IT personnel are a persistent challenge facing many South African organisations (Igbaria, Meredith & Smith, 1995; Smith & Speight, 2006; Naidoo, 2016). Factors such as role ambiguity, role conflict, role overload, exhaustion, stress and burnout offer useful explanations for turnover decisions in IT (Johnson & Stinson, 1975). The increasingly complex and demanding nature of IT work is not surprising given the rapid technological changes and concomitantly greater expectations of end users, managers and government policymakers that IT employees keep up with these changes in technology (Lim & Teo, 1999)
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